Keelboating in 1798 to the southern tip of the future state of Ohio was the second major move westward by William "Ranger" Davidson. He was then 51 years old. Born November 20, 1747 in Suffex County, Delaware, he was the son of Lewis and Comfort Warrington Davidson. Lewis named William after his own father and grandfather. Genealogists identify the elder William as "Emigrant" because of his emigration from Scotland to Maryland by way of Ireland in 1649. He was of the Scottish Clan Davidson of the Badenoch area. The clan's pipe music is "Tulloch's
Salute" and its badge is boxwood.
With the surname William so common in Davidson history, South Point's founder is referred to as "Ranger" because of his Revolutionary War service in Pennsylvania's Westmoreland County Militia, Continental Line, known as the "frontier rangers." As a young man he moved from Delaware to the Pennsylvania frontier where land holdings are recorded in his name. His second major move westward was in 1798 to South Point which was part of the Northwest Territory's Washington County with the seat located at Marietta. He probably took advantage of the river's high, swift spring current to carry him to the land that he had received for military service. Statehood for Ohio was still five years away and it would be 18 years before Lawrence County would be formed with Burlington as its seat. During the latter part of those years, South Point would be part of Gallia County.
Davidson landed on the northern Ohio shore directly opposite the mouth of the Big Sandy River. He knew by his map that the Big Sandy separated the old state of Virginia from the new commonwealth of Kentucky. He could see the mouth of Catletts Creek flowing into the Ohio just below the Sandy's mouth. It was named after a pioneer settler on the Kentucky side and a city would one day bear Catlett's name. As Davidson built his cabin, he retreated at night to
the point between the two rivers for a better defense against any renegade Indians roaming the area.
The land Davidson claimed fronted a mile of river and stretched far back to the hills and contained giant poplar, oak and beech trees as well as other timber valued for building a homestead. Lesser stands fringed the deep, dark glades and bordered open marshes where buffalo had shaped ponds. It was rich sandy loam and extended downstream from Fayette into Perry townships, making him the first land owner in both, but the first settler in Fayette. Philip Salliday erected the first cabin in Perry and is thus the first dweller there. Solida Creek was corrupted from Salliday's name.
Family members accompanying Ranger in 1798 are not listed. He had five children by his first wife, Rosanna Hutchinson, who died in 1782, and 10 children by his second wife, Barbara McDole. Barbara gave birth to William Warrington Davidson on November 6, 1798 at Redstone, Pennsylvania.
William brought the younger members of his family and his wife to South Point in 1799 where a frontier homestead awaited them. An older son by William's first marriage, John, came west at age 31 from Pennsylvania in 1801 and settled at Burlington, just above the upper "narrows" from his father's holdings. John was a farmer and merchant there until his death in 1828. His wife Margaret Armstrong died two years later.
South Point's founder died November 16, 1811 after carving a vast farmland out of the wilderness. His home was located on the riverbank facing the old river road near the junction of today's Second Street and Hooper Street. The old river road, which would have been First Street had the village existed at that time, has since disappeared because of erosion. It was officially abandoned as a right-of-way in 1896 and the few feet of width still atop the enbankment reverted to the fronting properties. Erosion also claimed the soil in which William, Barbara and other pioneers were buried. The cemetery was between today's Ferry and Elm streets with Old 52 on the hillside and the river on the other. High river water and a deepening ditch created "the hollow" which washed away all but a few graves. As late as the 1930's numerous tombstones still stood. A great-great grandson of Ranger Davidson, Howard T. Ferguson, found the pioneer's stone covered by river silt in the hollow during a search that preceded ceremonies dedicating a monument to the Revolutionary War veteran in 1941. The monument still stands today on the corner of the First Baptist Church lot which overlooks the time-erased pioneer cemetery where the "Ranger" was buried. The monument was purchased and dedicated by the captain James Lawrence Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and was installed by Pearl G. and Dick Davidson, great-grandson and great-great-grandson respectively, of the Ranger. During the ceremonies, Mary (Molly) Davidson Ferguson, granddaughter of the Ranger, was honored as the last remaining
grandchild of an American Revolutionary War veteran in Lawrence County.
Children by William Ranger's first marriage to Rosanna Hutchinson were John, Lewis, Comfort, David and Mary. Through his second marriage to Barbara McDole, the following were born: Margaret, Elizabeth, Sarah, Abraham, Thomas, William Warrington, Jesse, Rose, Joseph William and Cynthia. Of this Margaret, Sarah, Abraham, Thomas, William Warrington and Joseph William remained with the land in around South Point, marrying into other pioneer families and producing lines of descendants that touched almost every resident of South Point until the post World War II residential "boom" resulting from industrialization. Until then, South Pointers referred to each other as cousin, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, grandfather and grandmother, thus keeping families strong.
Credit: History of South Point Village by Art Ferguson.
Salute" and its badge is boxwood.
With the surname William so common in Davidson history, South Point's founder is referred to as "Ranger" because of his Revolutionary War service in Pennsylvania's Westmoreland County Militia, Continental Line, known as the "frontier rangers." As a young man he moved from Delaware to the Pennsylvania frontier where land holdings are recorded in his name. His second major move westward was in 1798 to South Point which was part of the Northwest Territory's Washington County with the seat located at Marietta. He probably took advantage of the river's high, swift spring current to carry him to the land that he had received for military service. Statehood for Ohio was still five years away and it would be 18 years before Lawrence County would be formed with Burlington as its seat. During the latter part of those years, South Point would be part of Gallia County.
Davidson landed on the northern Ohio shore directly opposite the mouth of the Big Sandy River. He knew by his map that the Big Sandy separated the old state of Virginia from the new commonwealth of Kentucky. He could see the mouth of Catletts Creek flowing into the Ohio just below the Sandy's mouth. It was named after a pioneer settler on the Kentucky side and a city would one day bear Catlett's name. As Davidson built his cabin, he retreated at night to
the point between the two rivers for a better defense against any renegade Indians roaming the area.
The land Davidson claimed fronted a mile of river and stretched far back to the hills and contained giant poplar, oak and beech trees as well as other timber valued for building a homestead. Lesser stands fringed the deep, dark glades and bordered open marshes where buffalo had shaped ponds. It was rich sandy loam and extended downstream from Fayette into Perry townships, making him the first land owner in both, but the first settler in Fayette. Philip Salliday erected the first cabin in Perry and is thus the first dweller there. Solida Creek was corrupted from Salliday's name.
Family members accompanying Ranger in 1798 are not listed. He had five children by his first wife, Rosanna Hutchinson, who died in 1782, and 10 children by his second wife, Barbara McDole. Barbara gave birth to William Warrington Davidson on November 6, 1798 at Redstone, Pennsylvania.
William brought the younger members of his family and his wife to South Point in 1799 where a frontier homestead awaited them. An older son by William's first marriage, John, came west at age 31 from Pennsylvania in 1801 and settled at Burlington, just above the upper "narrows" from his father's holdings. John was a farmer and merchant there until his death in 1828. His wife Margaret Armstrong died two years later.
South Point's founder died November 16, 1811 after carving a vast farmland out of the wilderness. His home was located on the riverbank facing the old river road near the junction of today's Second Street and Hooper Street. The old river road, which would have been First Street had the village existed at that time, has since disappeared because of erosion. It was officially abandoned as a right-of-way in 1896 and the few feet of width still atop the enbankment reverted to the fronting properties. Erosion also claimed the soil in which William, Barbara and other pioneers were buried. The cemetery was between today's Ferry and Elm streets with Old 52 on the hillside and the river on the other. High river water and a deepening ditch created "the hollow" which washed away all but a few graves. As late as the 1930's numerous tombstones still stood. A great-great grandson of Ranger Davidson, Howard T. Ferguson, found the pioneer's stone covered by river silt in the hollow during a search that preceded ceremonies dedicating a monument to the Revolutionary War veteran in 1941. The monument still stands today on the corner of the First Baptist Church lot which overlooks the time-erased pioneer cemetery where the "Ranger" was buried. The monument was purchased and dedicated by the captain James Lawrence Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and was installed by Pearl G. and Dick Davidson, great-grandson and great-great-grandson respectively, of the Ranger. During the ceremonies, Mary (Molly) Davidson Ferguson, granddaughter of the Ranger, was honored as the last remaining
grandchild of an American Revolutionary War veteran in Lawrence County.
Children by William Ranger's first marriage to Rosanna Hutchinson were John, Lewis, Comfort, David and Mary. Through his second marriage to Barbara McDole, the following were born: Margaret, Elizabeth, Sarah, Abraham, Thomas, William Warrington, Jesse, Rose, Joseph William and Cynthia. Of this Margaret, Sarah, Abraham, Thomas, William Warrington and Joseph William remained with the land in around South Point, marrying into other pioneer families and producing lines of descendants that touched almost every resident of South Point until the post World War II residential "boom" resulting from industrialization. Until then, South Pointers referred to each other as cousin, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, grandfather and grandmother, thus keeping families strong.
Credit: History of South Point Village by Art Ferguson.
Keelboating in 1798 to the southern tip of the future state of Ohio was the second major move westward by William "Ranger" Davidson. He was then 51 years old. Born November 20, 1747 in Suffex County, Delaware, he was the son of Lewis and Comfort Warrington Davidson. Lewis named William after his own father and grandfather. Genealogists identify the elder William as "Emigrant" because of his emigration from Scotland to Maryland by way of Ireland in 1649. He was of the Scottish Clan Davidson of the Badenoch area. The clan's pipe music is "Tulloch's
Salute" and its badge is boxwood.
With the surname William so common in Davidson history, South Point's founder is referred to as "Ranger" because of his Revolutionary War service in Pennsylvania's Westmoreland County Militia, Continental Line, known as the "frontier rangers." As a young man he moved from Delaware to the Pennsylvania frontier where land holdings are recorded in his name. His second major move westward was in 1798 to South Point which was part of the Northwest Territory's Washington County with the seat located at Marietta. He probably took advantage of the river's high, swift spring current to carry him to the land that he had received for military service. Statehood for Ohio was still five years away and it would be 18 years before Lawrence County would be formed with Burlington as its seat. During the latter part of those years, South Point would be part of Gallia County.
Davidson landed on the northern Ohio shore directly opposite the mouth of the Big Sandy River. He knew by his map that the Big Sandy separated the old state of Virginia from the new commonwealth of Kentucky. He could see the mouth of Catletts Creek flowing into the Ohio just below the Sandy's mouth. It was named after a pioneer settler on the Kentucky side and a city would one day bear Catlett's name. As Davidson built his cabin, he retreated at night to
the point between the two rivers for a better defense against any renegade Indians roaming the area.
The land Davidson claimed fronted a mile of river and stretched far back to the hills and contained giant poplar, oak and beech trees as well as other timber valued for building a homestead. Lesser stands fringed the deep, dark glades and bordered open marshes where buffalo had shaped ponds. It was rich sandy loam and extended downstream from Fayette into Perry townships, making him the first land owner in both, but the first settler in Fayette. Philip Salliday erected the first cabin in Perry and is thus the first dweller there. Solida Creek was corrupted from Salliday's name.
Family members accompanying Ranger in 1798 are not listed. He had five children by his first wife, Rosanna Hutchinson, who died in 1782, and 10 children by his second wife, Barbara McDole. Barbara gave birth to William Warrington Davidson on November 6, 1798 at Redstone, Pennsylvania.
William brought the younger members of his family and his wife to South Point in 1799 where a frontier homestead awaited them. An older son by William's first marriage, John, came west at age 31 from Pennsylvania in 1801 and settled at Burlington, just above the upper "narrows" from his father's holdings. John was a farmer and merchant there until his death in 1828. His wife Margaret Armstrong died two years later.
South Point's founder died November 16, 1811 after carving a vast farmland out of the wilderness. His home was located on the riverbank facing the old river road near the junction of today's Second Street and Hooper Street. The old river road, which would have been First Street had the village existed at that time, has since disappeared because of erosion. It was officially abandoned as a right-of-way in 1896 and the few feet of width still atop the enbankment reverted to the fronting properties. Erosion also claimed the soil in which William, Barbara and other pioneers were buried. The cemetery was between today's Ferry and Elm streets with Old 52 on the hillside and the river on the other. High river water and a deepening ditch created "the hollow" which washed away all but a few graves. As late as the 1930's numerous tombstones still stood. A great-great grandson of Ranger Davidson, Howard T. Ferguson, found the pioneer's stone covered by river silt in the hollow during a search that preceded ceremonies dedicating a monument to the Revolutionary War veteran in 1941. The monument still stands today on the corner of the First Baptist Church lot which overlooks the time-erased pioneer cemetery where the "Ranger" was buried. The monument was purchased and dedicated by the captain James Lawrence Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and was installed by Pearl G. and Dick Davidson, great-grandson and great-great-grandson respectively, of the Ranger. During the ceremonies, Mary (Molly) Davidson Ferguson, granddaughter of the Ranger, was honored as the last remaining
grandchild of an American Revolutionary War veteran in Lawrence County.
Children by William Ranger's first marriage to Rosanna Hutchinson were John, Lewis, Comfort, David and Mary. Through his second marriage to Barbara McDole, the following were born: Margaret, Elizabeth, Sarah, Abraham, Thomas, William Warrington, Jesse, Rose, Joseph William and Cynthia. Of this Margaret, Sarah, Abraham, Thomas, William Warrington and Joseph William remained with the land in around South Point, marrying into other pioneer families and producing lines of descendants that touched almost every resident of South Point until the post World War II residential "boom" resulting from industrialization. Until then, South Pointers referred to each other as cousin, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, grandfather and grandmother, thus keeping families strong.
Credit: History of South Point Village by Art Ferguson.
Salute" and its badge is boxwood.
With the surname William so common in Davidson history, South Point's founder is referred to as "Ranger" because of his Revolutionary War service in Pennsylvania's Westmoreland County Militia, Continental Line, known as the "frontier rangers." As a young man he moved from Delaware to the Pennsylvania frontier where land holdings are recorded in his name. His second major move westward was in 1798 to South Point which was part of the Northwest Territory's Washington County with the seat located at Marietta. He probably took advantage of the river's high, swift spring current to carry him to the land that he had received for military service. Statehood for Ohio was still five years away and it would be 18 years before Lawrence County would be formed with Burlington as its seat. During the latter part of those years, South Point would be part of Gallia County.
Davidson landed on the northern Ohio shore directly opposite the mouth of the Big Sandy River. He knew by his map that the Big Sandy separated the old state of Virginia from the new commonwealth of Kentucky. He could see the mouth of Catletts Creek flowing into the Ohio just below the Sandy's mouth. It was named after a pioneer settler on the Kentucky side and a city would one day bear Catlett's name. As Davidson built his cabin, he retreated at night to
the point between the two rivers for a better defense against any renegade Indians roaming the area.
The land Davidson claimed fronted a mile of river and stretched far back to the hills and contained giant poplar, oak and beech trees as well as other timber valued for building a homestead. Lesser stands fringed the deep, dark glades and bordered open marshes where buffalo had shaped ponds. It was rich sandy loam and extended downstream from Fayette into Perry townships, making him the first land owner in both, but the first settler in Fayette. Philip Salliday erected the first cabin in Perry and is thus the first dweller there. Solida Creek was corrupted from Salliday's name.
Family members accompanying Ranger in 1798 are not listed. He had five children by his first wife, Rosanna Hutchinson, who died in 1782, and 10 children by his second wife, Barbara McDole. Barbara gave birth to William Warrington Davidson on November 6, 1798 at Redstone, Pennsylvania.
William brought the younger members of his family and his wife to South Point in 1799 where a frontier homestead awaited them. An older son by William's first marriage, John, came west at age 31 from Pennsylvania in 1801 and settled at Burlington, just above the upper "narrows" from his father's holdings. John was a farmer and merchant there until his death in 1828. His wife Margaret Armstrong died two years later.
South Point's founder died November 16, 1811 after carving a vast farmland out of the wilderness. His home was located on the riverbank facing the old river road near the junction of today's Second Street and Hooper Street. The old river road, which would have been First Street had the village existed at that time, has since disappeared because of erosion. It was officially abandoned as a right-of-way in 1896 and the few feet of width still atop the enbankment reverted to the fronting properties. Erosion also claimed the soil in which William, Barbara and other pioneers were buried. The cemetery was between today's Ferry and Elm streets with Old 52 on the hillside and the river on the other. High river water and a deepening ditch created "the hollow" which washed away all but a few graves. As late as the 1930's numerous tombstones still stood. A great-great grandson of Ranger Davidson, Howard T. Ferguson, found the pioneer's stone covered by river silt in the hollow during a search that preceded ceremonies dedicating a monument to the Revolutionary War veteran in 1941. The monument still stands today on the corner of the First Baptist Church lot which overlooks the time-erased pioneer cemetery where the "Ranger" was buried. The monument was purchased and dedicated by the captain James Lawrence Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and was installed by Pearl G. and Dick Davidson, great-grandson and great-great-grandson respectively, of the Ranger. During the ceremonies, Mary (Molly) Davidson Ferguson, granddaughter of the Ranger, was honored as the last remaining
grandchild of an American Revolutionary War veteran in Lawrence County.
Children by William Ranger's first marriage to Rosanna Hutchinson were John, Lewis, Comfort, David and Mary. Through his second marriage to Barbara McDole, the following were born: Margaret, Elizabeth, Sarah, Abraham, Thomas, William Warrington, Jesse, Rose, Joseph William and Cynthia. Of this Margaret, Sarah, Abraham, Thomas, William Warrington and Joseph William remained with the land in around South Point, marrying into other pioneer families and producing lines of descendants that touched almost every resident of South Point until the post World War II residential "boom" resulting from industrialization. Until then, South Pointers referred to each other as cousin, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, grandfather and grandmother, thus keeping families strong.
Credit: History of South Point Village by Art Ferguson.
Family Members
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